James: The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

The reality of life in the top flight was quick to hit home, as Nigel Pearson’s men were served with an opener against Everton followed by games against Chelsea, Stoke, Arsenal and Manchester United.

And James, City’s 2013/14 Young Player of the Year, could barely contain his excitement at a mouth-watering start to the campaign.

“It’s unbelievable really. You look at the teams we’ll be up against and it’s the stuff dreams are made of,” he told lcfc.com.

“As a professional, they’re the games you want to be involved in and I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t wait.”

City’s start to the season is widely regarded to be among the toughest they could have been dealt, starting with meetings against three of last season’s top six.

But James, who made 40 appearances in helping City reach the top flight last season, reckons there could be advantages to facing the highly fancied sides in the opening stages of the campaign.

“Maybe playing Chelsea, Arsenal and United in the first five games will help us. There’s nothing like playing the top sides to settle the nerves!” he said.

“They’re the games we all want to play in. You can’t be scared of them; it’s what the Premier League is all about.

“I don’t think you can look at any team in the Premier League and think ‘that’s going to be an easy game’ or ‘we can get three points there’, so it was going to be a challenge whoever we came up against. You can’t turn up anywhere expecting to win.

“You’ve just got to go into every game believing you can win it, playing positively and trying to win.

“Wherever we pick the points up, as long as get enough over the 38 games I’ll be happy. Hopefully we can cause a few upsets along the way.”

Click to see Leicester City’s full list of 2014/15 Barclays Premier League fixtures.